Jim Harbaugh – What kind of coach will he be?

As time goes on, NFL teams continue to limit access to players, assistant coaches and practices. The 49ers deserve credit for allowing the media to watch Wednesday’s local workout. In over 20 years covering the team, this is the first time the team has opened up the workout for local players, even though several requests were made often by the media over the years. This is a good sign for the burgeoning Jim Harbaugh era. The more access we get, the richer our stories and the more information we can relay to readers.

The 49ers have always had one of the most open policies in the league and most of that stemmed from Bill Walsh. While he was no fan of the media, he was so confident in what he was doing, he kept practices open. He also wanted to promote his assistants, so he allowed them to talk to reporters. Harbaugh doesn’t lack for confidence, so you would hope he would keep things fairly open.

Speaking of Harbaugh, he buzzed all over the field during the workout, throwing passes, running through drills and infusing the players with his infectious energy. He also structured workouts so two similarly sized players would run through timed drills at the same time. The competition spiced up practice.

Recently, I’ve talked to a few people who have spent time observing Harbaugh at Stanford and here’s what they say. First, Harbaugh’s greatest attributes are his ability to motivate and his reputation as a quarterback whisperer. Harbaugh believes he could coach an Oompa Loompa into spinning NFL-quality spirals, and that’s why he wants Alex Smith to stay so badly. Harbaugh believes he can unleash Smith’s first-pick talent.

But interestingly, Harbaugh is not a great X’s and O’s man. In fact, Stanford really took off after Harbaugh hired Greg Roman on offense and Vic Fangio on defense. Offensively, Roman, now the 49ers offensive coordinator, was known as the brains of the operation with his use of motion and emphasis on the run. Roman also had the luxury of an extremely bright quarterback in Andrew Luck who sometimes called three plays in the huddle and then chose the best one at the line of scrimmage.

Harbaugh is also known as your typical former successful NFL quarterback, meaning he’s not afraid to step on egos. To be frank, Harbaugh can treat people badly. Those around Walsh said the same thing of him. Bill Parcells would never win election as rush chairman.

Nevertheless, the 49ers would be wise to keep this in mind as they go forward because he’s liable to tick people off. Apparently Walsh and former owner Eddie DeBartolo Jr. had some legendary clashes.

What the 49ers are missing, however, is someone to mediate those heated exchanges. Former team executives Carmen Policy and John McVay masterfully negotiated the imbroglios between Walsh and DeBartolo and between Walsh and his staff.

What the 49ers need with Harbaugh is patience and hopefully they will have enough of it to see whether Harbaugh can be the next successful coach of this storied franchise.